ABSTRACT
Pointing out the obvious kinship between British and American press systems should not obscure the fundamental differences between them. These differences exist at many levels and have unmistakable influences on the journalism that is produced. This chapter considers three which must be kept in mind to comprehend American attempts to develop a conception of press accountability: the predominant localism of the American press, its pre-occupation with objectivity as its basic operating philosophy, and the reflexive separation between State and press in the United States. While solutions to accountability questions have proved to be elusive, there is little question that the context for the discussions in the past half century was provided by the Hutchins Commission in 1947. Hutchins-style mechanisms and practices were adopted to heighten the professional standing of journalists and address questions of the accountability in the American press.
